Reading character from the way someone laughs: a study of WWE’s Kings’ Court episode from Table for Three

Table for Three is one of the very few shows that I still enjoy watching from WWE. And I was especially pleased about the Kings’ Court episode with William Regal, Sheamus and Wade Barrett. As you might still remember, I’m all about the little details. And for this little gem of twenty minutes I took a special eye on the way these three people laugh. Enjoy my analysis and write me your opinion if you like.

Kayfabe is dead – long live kayfabe

The three kings of the “Kings’ Court”. A show like this where three WWE wrestlers, present or past, sit together, have a meal and a chit-chat about their profession as the real people behind their wrestling personae – this is something rather unusual. You’ve got the interviews in shows but these are always in character. And you’ve got other shows with a third person who asks the questions. And these shows are at least semi-kayfabe. But in Table for Three you almost get the real people. And this is something special that wouldn’t have happened about twenty years ago. But with all the internet and smartphone users throwing out basically every single information about the wrestlers outside the ring, kayfabe is basically dead. Everyone who wants to know about the real guys or gals, gets to know something. There is no place to hide. And some people who don’t want to get such information, getting them shoved down their throats from left and right. Yes, the wrestling business is pretty different from about twenty years ago compared to the present time. And WWE finally went for it with such a show like Table for Three.

Every single episode has got a motto and the one with William Regal, Wade Barrett and Sheamus was the Kings’ Court since every one of them has been King Of the Ring once. And of course they talked about this special honour as well. William Regal pointed out that maybe WWE put these three guys together because they had been the three worst Kings Of the Ring ever. Of course they were, William. Who do you want to believe you? But shoving the joking to one side, he also said some very true things. Especially when he talked about what wrestling is all about. It’s definitely about the little moments and details. People always talk about how a wrestler is dressed – and they dress differently every year, so another wrestling figure needs to be made for fans to buy it – or what faces he pulls out or one special move. For me it’s also about storytelling and I love it when matches tell a great story from start to finish.

But this is not your common RAW or SmackDown match. In these shows matches hardly tell stories. In these shows the matches are just part of the story but they aren’t the story itself. But it’s the moments. And wrestlers are remembered for the moments they got their fans or haters stunned with. Of course Wade Barrett had to bring up William Regal’s Man’s Man gimmick that only lasted for five weeks during his 32 years in the wrestling business. He was at his lowest condition physically and mentally at the time but he’s basically remembered only for this by about 80 percent of wrestling fans probably. What a catchy entrance music can do to you!

Now, you can watch the whole twenty minutes of this episode again or for the first time if you haven’t seen it already. I’ll tell you some basic facts about laughing when you continue reading here and will compare it with the way William Regal, Wade Barrett and Sheamus are laughing right away. Some things are facts, some things are just my own assumptions. But it’s really interesting to dig deeper into it. So when you’ve finished reading this, just watch the show again and make up your own mind.

Gelotology – the study of laughter

Wade BarrettKing Of the Ring 2015 The most important fact about laughter is that it is basically a reflex and because of that the one who laughs needs someone or something that causes the laughter / reflex. That also means that laughter as a reaction reflects the relationship between the one who laughs and the one who caused that laughter. Now the main reasons why we laugh are the following:

reactions on comical situations;

reaction of relief after overcoming a dangerous situation;

to avoid social conflicts between two people or two groups;

defensive reaction against fear.

As you may have noticed all these causes of laughter are reactions on something else. So it basically just happens because it’s a reflex. We need to laugh because something else is getting at us or coming for us and we need to react. Laughter is older than the human ability to speak. So laughter basically was an instrument for early humans to talk with each other. Showing your teeth to the one who caused the laughter is the basic point about laughter. The early meaning was that your counterpart noticed about your sharp teeth and your willingness to use them. Within a group of early humans showing your teeth to each other meant showing your individual strength within a group of strong people.

So compared to nowadays when someone expressively shows his or her teeth while laughing, the very person shows himself as a strong person and wants his surrounding to know about it. People with bad or not impressive teeth won’t show their teeth as much when they use to laugh. So right here Wade Barrett loves to show his teeth and rightly so. He’s got some very impressive white ones – everyone needs to see them. And recently he also got very ripped, so he’s also proud about his all around strength – this is a guy who is proud about his body, strength … and his teeth probably. On the other side both, Sheamus and William Regal, aren’t much into flashing their teeth. Sometimes Sheamus almost seems to be ashamed when he needs to laugh. He then looks down, doesn’t really open his mouth and just hopes that the reflex is gone as fast as it started. This might reflect a person who isn’t very strong or doesn’t want to show others that he isn’t strong. But it can also reflect a person who is just a very peace loving person who doesn’t want to fight and / or doesn’t need to fight. And I think the last assumption might reflect the character of Sheamus.

And then we have William Regal who also doesn’t show much of his teeth. But there is some variation. Sometimes he looks down to his left while laughing but not expressively. And then he kind of plays the clown. Something or someone causes him to laugh and he laughs but then he adds some comical gestures or pulls faces, so the ones who caused the laughter need to laugh about him now. These are two main points I discovered about his character that need a few more words and an extra sub-headline.

The hidden signs about William Regal’s laughter

William RegalKing Of the Ring 2008 The first detection about William Regal’s laughter was that he looks down to his left while laughing. When you talk with someone and your counterpart basically stares at you but occasionally looks up to his right, this is a strong indication that this person lies at you. And if you’re looking to your left, you’re telling the truth. I haven’t found some links between looking at your left and laughter as of right now. So this is what my thoughts are about this. When he laughs and looks down to his left, his laughter indicates that he’s showing the truth. But in looking down and probably trying to control himself could mean that he doesn’t really want to reveal everything. So in William Regal’s case it actually can indicate that he wants to hide something. As I said before, laughter is a reflex. And when you laugh, your reflex basically wins over your mind. Some people are able to control their laughter, and when they do, their mind wins over the body.

Now William Regal went through a lot of horrible things in his past, mostly health issues. First the issue with his heart that he wasn’t really responsible for. But then with his pills and drug abuse. And this was his own fault and he paid for it. Now this special way to laugh could be an indicator that William Regal wants his strong mind to be the victor over his weak body. He controls himself and this reflects in his way to laugh. He could burst out into laughter like Wade Barrett but he doesn’t. He just chuckles lightly and looks away from the men who cause the laughter like he turns away his sight from every pill or drug these days.

For the second detection there is William Regal’s routine to joke around while laughing and cause others to laugh as well. And I see two reasons behind this:

He doesn’t take himself seriously. at. all.Actually this isn’t something pretty new about William Regal. But since there can be a huge difference between what people say they are and what they actually are, there is still the need to point that out as true. William Regal often said that he doesn’t take himself seriously, that he does anything people want him to do (on television and in character). So him not just laughing but turning the laughter itself into a joke shows exactly that. He doesn’t put on a show, he just want people laugh with or about him, either way having fun while being in his company.

He is such a humble person that he can’t take anything without giving something back immediately.William Regal just is a born entertainer. He lives for other people and he basically hates it when he’s praised. So, when he’s praised or talk is about him that causes laughter, he turns the joke around and attention from him. He doesn’t want to be the main talking point. He wants to be the main laughing point, so to speak. Causing people having fun, not having fun from other people. He wants for every person to feel good and having a good time. And he doesn’t want to receive any credit for it. Just imagine his future Hall Of Fame speech. He’ll probably only praise other people, telling tales from other wrestlers and every second sentence will be, I don’t deserve to stand here.

Wrestling is fun and you should laugh

SheamusKing Of the Ring 2010 As I hinted at the start of this little analysis, I don’t watch WWE shows at the moment. I simply didn’t enjoy these shows from a creative point of view. But that’s not the whole story. I also stopped watching because I don’t have the time for it right now. I need to finish writing my novel and that consumes most of my free time. Occasionally I read about all the moaning and complaining about WWE and sometimes it’s right to do that. But there is also some ridiculous stuff out there, especially the moaning and complaining about wrestler’s ring gear or their individual hairstyle. This is complete nonsense and waste of time in my opinion. You are free to say that Sheamus looks stupid with his beard. But the way he looks basically reflects an Irish warrior in a fight. It’s meant to look stupid but also frightening to the opponents. So, it’s tradition but people know nothing about it and that makes them look stupid. People also complain about Dean Ambrose pulling faces. But this is fun. Don’t ridicule something because this something causes you to laugh. And most people complain about this are the ones who for some reason don’t want to like Dean Ambrose. So they don’t want to laugh about or with him.

Wrestling is about fun. And fun causes laughter. Fun and laughter brings people together. But the reality in wrestling and especially in the WWE is one fanbase of one wrestler moaning and complaining about another fanbase of one wrestler. People need to realize again that wrestling isn’t the serious part of their life but the funny part of it. And they should enjoy it again.

Something special this way comes

Credit:William Regal on Twitter. And because this is indeed something really special, I’d like to point this out here as well: WWE have really made a new tee shirt for His Royal Highness, The King, Sir William Regal. I strongly believed in it and now here it is. Actually, it’s only available from 10 December 2015 and these are still a few days of wait. But we’ve waited for years now and with this picture and the date already out, new merchandize for The King isn’t just a dream anymore but becomes reality very soon. Go and buy it when it’s out, dear reader, so we might get other nice things. William Regal definitely deserves the merchandize and all the love, even if he thinks he doesn’t deserve it. His fans know that he does.

Dear Sunshine,

you came here by accident? Well, not at all. You must be a wrestling fan, perhaps a total Dean Ambrose fangirl or fanboy. Maybe you do like William Regal, Wade Barrett – Bad News Barrett – Damien Sandow, Chris Jericho – Y2J – Cesaro as well. You even still like CM Punk and most certainly Paul Heyman. But most of all you consider yourself a Dean Ambrose fan. Well, don’t go any further then, because you’ll find anything about Dean Ambrose in here: hilarious wrestling reviews, written to an intellectual jerk gimmick. You’ll love it. Together with watching the videos from the great Dean Ambrose appreciation website, all the Gifs that I’ve collected from Tumblr (and properly marked my sources, of course!) and looking at my collages. Everything you need to know about Dean Ambrose, you’ll find in my Dean Ambrose FAQ. But if you are into reading, I’ll always recommend reading my Dean Ambrose wrestling reviews. Find them all at once under the Dean Ambrose hashtag – right into this hashtag cloud on the right from this meaningless little text here.